Out of the comfort zone

 

Fabian Stamm - Geo-Start-Up Terranigma Solutions

Fabian completed his Bachelor's degree in Georesources Management at RWTH in the summer semester of 2013 in standard study time. He then went to Norway for a semester and did his Master's degree in 2017, also in Aachen. Today, he is one of the founders of the geo start-up Terranigma Solutions.

When he thinks back to his student days, he particularly likes to think of the various excursions, the time spent with fellow students and the other people he met at university, "there are just special, exciting people in the geosciences." But he also remembers the many typical geo-things, he calls it the "geo-geektum", that you can't do without after a while. So he also counts the "Barbarafeier" among the special moments and even celebrated it last year Corona conditionally privately with a friend. If you ask Fabian what makes the geo studies special, it is, in addition to the excursions and field work, especially the large, exciting subject areas and the scales in which you think and work as a geologist.

But besides the exciting and beautiful moments, there were also hurdles that Fabian had to overcome. For example, inorganic geochemistry was a module that did not come easily to him, and getting up early was not one of his favorite moments either. The biggest hurdle throughout his studies was for Fabian to figure out what he wanted to specialize in. In fact, during his studies, Fabian didn't really have a plan for what he wanted to do after his master's thesis.

He assumed he would find a job in a company, perhaps in the field of consulting. So his path initially seemed to lead back to Norway. In the end, he says, it was a "string of happy coincidences" that brought him to where he is now.

While studying for his Master's degree, Fabian took a voluntary course with Prof. Wellmann to learn more about the use of programming methods in the geosciences. There he also met Miguel, he was a tutor for the course and later became Fabian's supervisor for the final thesis. After graduation, Fabian then worked as a research assistant at the CGRE Institute, after which he went to Berlin for a start-up program, where he got to know the start-up field for the first time. Shortly after, he had the unique opportunity to found his own start-up in the field of geosciences with his friends and colleagues from his time at the institute.

With the start-up Terranigma, the five founders Fabian, Miguel, Ana, Simon and Prof. Wellmann have made it their goal to implement the latest scientific findings and innovative technologies to revolutionize the world of geological exploration and modeling. "With Georesources Management, I am now mainly responsible for business development" says Fabian. He bridges the gap between geoscience and technology on the one hand, and business and communication on the other. He hardly does any programming, but he understands what the software does and how it can be used to solve problems.

For the future, Fabian hopes that together they will manage to move the company forward, finish the product and start sales. His personal goals are to be able to work so that he can travel again. To his family in Costa Rica and around the world for and with Terranigma.

Fabian would like to give the Geosciences students some advice to take their time to find their way and, above all, to leave their own comfort zone. "Then it gets exciting and you find out what you are really capable of", that was the key for him during his Master and one of the most important lessons in his studies as well as in his personal life.